


Charlie Chaplin Went to France

by Who Shot AR (akerwis)



Category: Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Genre: 1930s, Children, Gen, Next-Gen, Post-Canon, jump rope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-28
Updated: 2009-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-24 16:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/265370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akerwis/pseuds/Who%20Shot%20AR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don and Cosmo try to jump rope with Don's daughter and don't do a very good job of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charlie Chaplin Went to France

"No, that's not how you do it at _all_." Rose's despair at teaching her father and Uncle Cosmo to jump rope properly was beginning to show on her face. Every time they seemed to be getting anywhere, one of them would interpret "Spanish dancer, do a kick" as an opportunity to start dancing, and the other would rapidly follow suit. "You don't _actually_ dance, you just put your foot up a little. Otherwise, you'll mess up." She put her hands on her hips and gave the two of them a rather pointed look for a seven year old.

"Maybe we're just no good at this stuff, Rosie," Don finally said, scratching his head. "Your mother'd be better at it."

"But Ma's not home, and Herbie won't play. He says jump-rope's for girls, Daddy."

"We could invite some of your school friends over for the afternoon," he offered. "If you want to telephone Donna and Peggy..."

"But I wanna play with you." Her lower lip was threatening to pop out into a full-on pout. Don wasn't sure what he'd do if she ever came to the point of crying, especially over a jump-rope game gone awry; Rose always seemed to threaten to without ever quite making it there.

"Now, see here, the poor thing's outnumbered," Cosmo declared, having just untangled the wayward rope from around his ankles. Springing to his feet, he proffered the jump-rope with a small bow, and Rose took it from his hands, still frowning. "Too many boys! You--me--her very own twin--my namesake!" He dropped to his knees, clutching his hands to his breast. "It's too much for one little girl to bear." He paused for a beat, then stood back up again, brushed himself off, and finished, less dramatically, "We have to face the music and stop dancing, Don."

"Are we men or are we mice?" Don added dryly. "All right. Show us again, Rosie, and we'll try and keep our feet from wandering off this time."

She considered, as shrewdly eagle-eyed in that moment as Don's mother-in-law, but finally relented with a gap-toothed smile. "Okay. The rhyme goes 'Charlie Chaplin went to France to teach the ladies how to dance...'"

**Author's Note:**

> Set in 1937. Don and Kathy's kids are called Herbie, Rosie, and Basie (and eventually June, but she's not yet born in this timeline).


End file.
